When Tuesday comes and goes without hearing a peep about Walpurgisnacht from Kyuubey, I start to worry about the situation with Oriko. Did she not contract this time around? Or… is it something worse? In order to answer that question, I peek on her after school on Thursday – the day Komaki found out Oriko was a magical girl in the first timeline. Just like in the last two timelines, they meet in the labyrinth and have a chat, but this time, Oriko doesn't reveal that she's a magical girl, although I can clearly see her ring. I can't be sure what that means, but… one possibility is that I'm now in the timeline of the Oriko Magica manga, which would mean Oriko has undergone a face-heel turn. I hope that's not it, but I should be ready for it, just in case.

As I close off that vision, I hear the sound of an incoming email on my phone. I check it and find a message from Hijiri.

"I've decided what I want to do. No matter how many times Miss Akemi turns back time, I want to be friends with Yuuri-chan and Airi-chan again and again. I want to apologize to Moe-chan, no matter how many times it takes. I'm going to speak to them this weekend. I won't ask for your help, but it would make me happy if you would join me."

I send a quick reply.

"I'll be there Friday evening. Let me know if there's a specific place where you'd like to meet."

I follow that up with a quick message to Noriko – we exchanged contact information over the sushi dinner last week.

"You wanted to meet Pernelle Flamel, right? I'm going to Asunaro for the weekend, heading out on Friday, so if you'd like to come along, I could introduce you. Let me know asap!"

Finally, I shoot off a message to Yuuri.

"Hey, I was thinking of spending this weekend in Asunaro, would you like to meet up? I might bring another friend or two along too."

Aside from Noriko, the "other friend" is of course Inui, because I have a feeling she'll insist on coming along. Apart from school, she's been sticking to me like glue ever since I saved her from witchdom. Although, I suppose Hijiri could also fit the role of the "other friend".

With my agenda for the weekend decided on, I head home. Inui shows up not long after, so I let her know my plans.

"Well, of course I'm coming!" she says. "I wanna meet all your friends, Ashley-nee!"

"I guess that settles that, then," I say.

At that moment, the ping of an incoming message sounds again, and I check my phone. This time it's Noriko.

"I wish you'd told me last week. They won't let me cancel the Friday shoot at such short notice. Let's go some other time."

"Huh, I thought she would've cancelled it no matter what so she could come," I say.

"I guess the company still has their limits even though they go out of their way to accommodate Nano-chan," Inui says.

"I suppose I should've predicted that," I say.

Another ping heralds a response from Yuuri.

"Hey Ashley-chan! That sounds like fun… do you have a place to stay? If it's just you and one other, you could crash at my place. I think squeezing three in would be difficult, but if you don't mind it being a little cramped, we could probably manage."

I shoot off a quick response.

"Thanks for the offer! If you're sure it's okay with you, then I'll gladly accept. And don't worry about the space, because there'll only be two of us."

While I'm writing that, a new message comes in from Hijiri, so I check that next.

"Let's meet at the observation tower by the wharf. It's a very visible landmark so it should be easy to find. Let's say, around six o'clock or so? Or whenever Yuuri-chan is available."

That's where I had a chat with Pernelle, so I know the way. By the time I've read Hijiri's message, there's already a response from Yuuri.

"Cool! Should I give you my address, or do you want to meet up beforehand?"

I send her a reply.

"How about we meet at the observation tower on Friday? Maybe around six or so."

I wait for the reply… it's not long.

"I'm sorry! My shift ends at seven, and it probably takes around half an hour to get to the wharf, so… how about seven thirty? I'll bring dinner!"

I respond immediately.

"Sounds good!"

Then I send a response to Hijiri.

"Seven thirty is fine, right?"

Her response comes almost immediately.

"I'll be there!"

Inui watches the whole conversation with a modicum of amusement, peering over my shoulder to read my messages. I could've stopped her, but it's not like there's anything private here, especially considering that she's coming along too.

"Who are these girls, anyway?" she asks.

"Ah, did I forget to mention? Hijiri Kanna came back in time with us last time, and Yuuri-chan is someone we helped out when her soul gem was at its limit."

"Ohhh, is that so…"

I nod. "Miss Hijiri was causing all sorts of havoc in Asunaro the last few times, but she's repented and wants to make amends. Although, I guess there's not a whole lot to make amends for when most of her actions were reset…"

"Well, I can't wait to meet them… when are we leaving? Right after school?"

"It doesn't take more than half an hour to get to Asunaro by train," I say. "We should be able to squeeze in a witch hunt first."

"Sounds good!"

Before heading to bed, I find a pen and a sheet of paper and compose a letter addressed to Misaki Umika. Hopefully, this will enable me to pass on the truth without relying on Remi's mysterious immunity. I don't want to rely on that because I don't understand why she's immune, so I have no idea if it requires special conditions.

Inui and I show up at the observation tower closer to seven than the appointed time and find Hijiri Kanna already there, sitting almost exactly where Pernelle was when I had that chat with her. I hail her, and she turns to look at me.

"Good evening, Miss Hijiri!"

"I'd prefer if you use my given name," Hijiri says.

"Um… yeah, it just feels confusing to call you Miss Kanna, because that's Nico's surname…"

"Ah… I understand what you mean," Hijiri nods. "Maybe a nickname, then?"

"Hmm," Inui says. "How about… Kanna-chi?"

"S-sure," Hijiri says.

"Cool! It's nice to meet you, Kanna-chi!" Inui says. "I'm Itsumi Inui, a friend of Ashley-nee."

"I guess you already put it together, but I'm Hijiri Kanna," Hijiri says. "Nice to meet you."

"Ashley-nee said you did something terrible before," Inui says. "I wonder, what could it be?"

Hijiri blinks and glances at me. "W-what have you been telling her!?" she gasps.

"Well, let's just say, I decided to come clean with those I'm closest to," I say. "That means the quartet from Mitakihara, plus Yuuri-chan and Airi-chan, and lastly Inui-chan. I told them the truth about magical girls, and about the time travel. To be clear, I haven't told Yuuri-chan and Airi-chan yet; I was planning to go over it today. But regarding you, I didn't share any details, just said you were wreaking havoc but want to make amends."

"If you're so close, why didn't Inui-chan join us last time around?" Hijiri asks.

"Ah, I probably turned into a witch," Inui says. "I narrowly escaped that fate this time, so…"

"Ohh, that makes sense," Hijiri says.

"Yeah, and last time we narrowly failed to save her, too," I say. "So I'm really glad we were successful this time."

"So I take it you know Koma-chin and the others?" Inui asks.

Hijiri nods. "Sort of? I mean, I met them, but it was just before the final battle, so I couldn't tell you much more than their names and powers. There were also several other girls there… Kohaku Koharu, Mikuni Oriko, Asako Komaki, Kure Kirika, and… Chitose Yuma."

"Oh, you even know Koko-chan!" Inui exclaims. "Wow… other than Maki-chi, I don't know any of the others though."

"Again, I literally just met her before the battle," Hijiri says. "But sure."

"I wasn't even aware you knew Miss Asako, Inui-chan," I say.

"Well, I ran into her a couple of times," Inui says. "She yelled at me a lot, though…"

"Miss Mikuni is someone to be wary of this time around," I note. "Last time, she prophesized the arrival of Walpurgisnacht and asked Kyuubey to warn everyone, but this time, she didn't, and I can only speculate as to why she'd keep it to herself…"

"Maybe she just didn't make a contract?" Inui suggests.

"No, we checked," I say. "She's definitely a magical girl. She even knows Miss Asako is a magical girl, but she seems to be hiding her status this time."

"Huh… weird," Inui muses.

"She seemed like a very pragmatic type of person to me," Hijiri says. "Maybe she thought of a way to save the city that she doesn't expect others to agree with…"

"That's what I'm afraid of too," I nod. "By the way, Kanna-chi, have you been in contact with Pernelle?"

Hijiri nods. "I showed up on her doorstep and she was like, 'Oh, you must be from the future'… I couldn't help it, I just laughed out loud. But she refused to take me as a pupil or intervene in any way until Juubey is deactivated."

"Huh, so this Pernelle chick knows about the time travel?" Inui asks.

"Yeah, she was the first one I told, before the time loop even got started," I say. "She's sort of a mad scientist type, so the experiment takes priority, and in this case, the experiment is Juubey."

"What is this Juubey thing?" Inui asks.

"It's a zombified… or more like frankensteined incubator that's supposed to be able to purify soul gems," I say.

Inui blinks. "Zombified… Kyuubey!? Are you serious!? No wait, that's not what I should be surprised at… he can actually purify your soul gem!? That's awesome! Although I have to admit it sounds a little too good to be true…"

I nod. "Yes, you're right to worry," I say. "Indeed, it's too good to be true. Juubey can't purify soul gems by himself. I'll explain in more detail later… no point in saying it twice."

"I see… so are we here to disrupt this experiment, then?" Inui asks.

"Possibly, but that's not our primary reason. Well… it's not even our secondary reason. The primary reason is that Kanna-chi asked me to come, but I also had another purpose in mind… the Souju twins."

Hijiri blinks at me. "Ah? What do you plan to do with them?"

"I'm hoping we can return their collection to their rightful owners," I say.

"Oh! Actually, I can help you with that," Hijiri says. "You see, last time around, I stole their collection to create Hyades Daybreak, so…"

I blink at her. "Oh, I was wondering where you managed to find so many soul gems when everyone in the Freezer had already been liberated… you wouldn't remember, but you used them in the previous timeline."

Hijiri nods. "Yeah, hunting down those released girls wasn't worth it, but when I remembered the Souju twins, it was the obvious choice… though I regret it now. Anyway, I should be able to steal them again. They store them in a pocket dimension, so all I need to do is connect to them and force them to draw out all the gems."

"Oh, thanks, that would be very helpful," I say. "Still, that's only the beginning… I also want to make contact with someone in law enforcement to try and hunt for the bodies."

"Um, this all sounds really creepy," Inui says. "What the hell are we talking about?"

"Ah… the Souju twins have a habit of stealing soul gems from other magical girls," I explain.

Inui blinks. "Oh my god, that's awful! W-wait, what happens to the body, then?"

"After about two days, it'll begin to decay, just the same as if they'd died," I reply.

"S-so… oh! I get it, you want to find records of girls who mysteriously died?" Inui says. "But… how does that help? Especially if the body's decayed…"

"Well, I assume the decay can always be healed by magic," I say. "And as long as the soul gem is returned, she'll come back to life. Of course, there's no guarantee that all such cases will be the Souju twin's fault… there could be others like them who steal soul gems, and occasionally girls who turn into a witch leave a body behind. But I thought it would be a good starting point."

"Ashley-chan! We're here, were you waiting long?"

A familiar voice hails me, and I turn to see Yuuri and Airi exiting the elevator, waving. I wave back and wait for them to join us before responding.

"We were a little early, but don't worry. I was expecting to have to wait a bit."

"So… will you introduce us to your friends?" Airi says.

Yuuri blinks. "Huh? So you did bring two friends? I thought you said there'd only be one other. It might be a bit of a squeeze in my apartment…"

"No, don't worry about that," Hijiri says quickly. "I live in town, after all."

"Wait a second… aren't you Kanna Nico?" Yuuri asks. "We met at the cooking contest…"

Hijiri and I shake our heads in unison.

"No, her name is Hijiri Kanna," I say. "The resemblance to Miss Kanna is no coincidence, mind you… you can think of them as sort of like twins."

"Even though they have a different surname?" Yuuri says.

"Yeah, I mean, that's why it's only sort of like twins," I reply. "And this is Itsumi Inui."

Yuuri and Airi nod and do a small bow.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Itsumi, Miss Hijiri," Yuuri says. "I'm Asuka Yuuri, and this is my best friend, Anri Airi."

"Nice to meet you!" Inui says. "You two are so cute together… how long have you been dating?"

Yuuri blinks. "W-what? We're just best friends from school…"

"Ohhh… so it's like that, huh?" Inui nods knowingly. "Well, I wish you luck, Airi-chi! I'll support you!"

"U-um… th-thanks? I guess?" Airi says nervously.

"Anyway, since I was just on my shift, I brought some leftovers," Yuuri says. "Want to eat here, or should we take them home? They should still be warm."

"Oh, is this your cooking?" I ask.

"Some of it," Yuuri says. "I made the dumplings and the salad… the rest was the head cook's work."

"Wait just a second here!" Inui says. "You're working at a restaurant, Yuu-tan? And as a cook, even? That's so cool!"

"Ah, yeah, I should've started with that," Yuuri says. "Sorry if that confused you."

"Well, I'm totally down with eating here," Inui says. "It has an awesome view, after all, and there's no-one else around right now."

"I only grabbed four sets of utensils, though," Yuuri says.

"Don't worry about me," Hijiri says. "I can create my own set with magic."

"Okay, I guess that's settled then!" Inui says happily. "Let's see that food!"

After a hearty supper, Hijiri says good night and heads home, while Inui and I follow Yuuri and Airi to the apartment they share.

"Wait, you're even living together?" Inui gasps. "But you're not dating? That's such a waste!"

"I d-didn't like the thought of Yuuri-chan being all alone," Airi explains. "So I moved in with her. Th-that's all there is to it."

Yuuri sets out futons for Inui and I in the living room, and we settle down to sleep.

When I wake up the next morning, I discover that Inui has snuck into my futon and is clinging to me, much like she usually does at the Hayashi house. I gently wriggle free of her grasp and go to see whether Yuuri and Airi are awake yet, but they aren't, so I head out onto the balcony and wait. While I'm there, I very briefly scry on a few people. Homura and Remi aren't doing anything interesting, and Oriko seems to be having waffles with Kirika… so also nothing interesting. I guess I can't expect much this early in the morning.

We have until around noon before I need to connect with Detective Ishijima, so once everyone is awake, we head for Café Lepa Macha for breakfast, at my suggestion. Hijiri meets us outside the café, and we all head inside together. Souichirou comes out at the sound of the bell and blinks, startled.

"Huh? Oh, it's Mr Tachibana!" Yuuri exclaims. "What are you doing here? What happened to Bistro Tachibana?"

"You're the ones who got the bucket of parfait a couple of months back, right?" he says. "I see you've brought even more friends along today."

"You bet we have!" Yuuri says. "Ashley-chan lives out of town, so we don't see much of her, but she's here today, so we're gonna splurge a little."

"I see! Good for you," Souichirou says with a smile. "About Bistro Tachibana… I was conned out of the lease and forced to shut down."

"Oh, that's too bad!" Yuuri says.

"Yeah! I can't believe someone would do such a thing!" Airi complains.

"Well, I was pretty lucky," Souichirou. "I knew the owner of this place, and it turned out his previous manager had suddenly quit, so I got the job immediately. But that's enough about me… what can I get you girls?"

"Hmm… I kinda want the bucket of parfait," Yuuri muses. "But we haven't even had breakfast yet…"

"I don't see the issue," I say. "Ice cream's a perfectly decent breakfast in my book… especially if you add nuts and stuff on top."

"At least we don't have to worry about getting fat," Airi says. "But I think I need something extra to supplement the parfait… how about we share a rice omelette first, then each have a parfait?"

Yuuri nods. "Yeah, that sounds good. Let's go with that. One rice omelette to share."

"Hmm… I'm feeling the noodles," Inui muses. "I'll have a napolitan."

"Me too," Hijiri says.

I peer up at the menu, examining the options. Eventually I settle on a grilled vegetable and salmon panini.

"Alright, I'll get those to you right away," Souichirou says. "Also, just checking, but how many buckets of parfait will you be ordering? I'll need to go buy more ice cream if you're all having it…"

"Well, I'd like to try it," Inui says. "It really sounds intriguing…"

"I think I'll pass," Hijiri says.

"Hmm… I guess I'll pass too," I say. "Maybe I'll have some cake instead…"

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea," Hijiri says.

Souichirou nods. "Okay… three buckets of parfait, then… I'll check, but I think I should have enough ice cream for that."

I'm slightly surprised that he even accepted the order for buckets of parfait, since at this point in time it shouldn't even be on the menu. Well, whatever… we find a table, and then Inui asks a question.

"So what was that about not needing to worry about getting fat?" she asks. "I'm kinda jealous if that's true…"

"Oh, that," Airi says. "Um, it was something Yuuri-chan mentioned after I made my contract, and apparently she heard it from Ashley-chan… I was curious about it, so I signed up for a couple of eating contests, and I didn't gain any weight at all… not a single kilo. I can't be sure it's because I'm a magical girl, mind you, but… I don't have any other explanation, either."

Inui blinks. "W-wait, are you saying not getting fat is a magical girl thing!?" she gasps. "W-why did no-one ever tell me!?"

"I don't think that's quite accurate," I say. "I think if there was a magical girl who genuinely didn't care whether she was fat, then she'd still get fat from overeating. What I said to Yuuri-chan before was based on what Pernelle told me, which is that a magical girl subconsciously tends to transform their body towards an ideal form. That's apparently why Pernelle doesn't age, and it's why I theorized you'd be able to binge eat without getting fat… I never expected Airi-chan to actually try it though. You're pretty brave, Airi-chan."

"Eh?" Inui blinks. "She doesn't age? So she's like, forever seventeen or something?"

I shake my head. "No, she looks like a middle-aged woman, I guess?"

"I wouldn't say she even looks that old," Hijiri says. "If I saw her on the street I'd pin her as a graduate student in a science program. You know, like mid-to-late-twenties."

"Yeah, I guess that's a better fit," I nod.

"Um… just how old is she really?" Inui asks.

"Well, she was born in 1320, so… really old," I say.

"Oh wow! Is that another perk of being a magical girl!?" Inui asks.

"I think so, yeah," I say.

"She's also a world-famous alchemist," Hijiri adds. "Maybe you've heard of Nicholas Flamel? She's his wife."

Yuuri gasps. "Wait, are you serious!? That's incredible! But wait a sec, Mr Flamel is supposed to be the one who discovered the secret of eternal life, right? But he can't be a magical girl… can he?"

"I don't know which of them discovered it," I say. "But they must have something like that, because Nicholas Flamel is still alive too. I met him in Paris."

"Oh, really?" Hijiri says. "That's kinda cool… they could make a fortune if they released it to the public, too…"

"It's probably a magical formula or something, so they can't share it easily," I shrug. "Heck, it may not even be an elixir… it might just be a magic spell."

At that moment, Souichirou brings the food out, and the conversation falls by the wayside as everyone digs in and declares it delicious. By the time conversation strikes up again, it seems the topic has been forgotten.

After everyone has finished with their dessert, we head outside. I turn and amble in the general direction of the café I expect her to visit for her afternoon coffee, and the others follow me curiously.

"Where are you going, Ashley-chan?" Yuuri asks.

"Well, there's a certain detective we're planning to meet," I say. "It's a little early, but she should soon be heading out to grab lunch and a coffee, so we plan to connect with her there."

Once the coffee shop is in sight, I check what Detective Ishijima is up to with my clairvoyance, but it seems she's still at the station.

"Well… we have some time, so I guess we should share a few secrets," I say. "Hmm… let's go into that alley for a bit."

We slip out of view of the main street, and I explain the secrets of magical girls, complete with a demonstration of the hundred metre limit. I also explain how time has been turned back multiple times and how I've been using my power, and I briefly touch on the existence of wraiths. Yuuri and Airi listen to the whole thing, reacting with appropriate shock at the demonstration, and mostly just nod along.

"This is all rather incredible," Yuuri says. "If anyone else told me these things, there's no way I could believe them… I'm honestly hesitant to believe them even from you, Ashley-chan. Although, after that demonstration, I guess I can't deny that the soul gem is our true body…"

"The time travel thing is true too," Hijiri says. "I also came back in time with her."

"Hmm… well, regardless, I'm happy you trust me enough to share this with me," Yuuri says. "Although I'm disappointed to hear that you've been spying on people… that's pretty creepy, so I wish you'd stop…"

"I'm sorry," I say. "We haven't even been spying on you that much – it was mostly other people – but still, I'm sorry. We can't really promise to stop, though… so I'm doubly sorry because of that…"

Yuuri sighs. "I understand that your intentions are noble, but the end doesn't usually justify the means, you know. You should think about that. Well… I can tell you're gonna ignore me anyway, so I'll just leave it at that for now. If I think it's getting worse though… if it seems like you're straying too far from the path of righteousness, you can be sure I'll step in and stop you."

"Uhh… thanks, I guess?" I say. "I don't think that'll be necessary, but we're happy you feel that way."

"By the way… I've been noticing this since earlier, but why do you keep saying 'we' even when you're clearly only talking about yourself?" Yuuri asks.

"O-oh, that," I say. "Um… because I made a promise, and as a way to remind myself that she's still with me."

"Who's still with you?"

"Ashley Taylor."

Yuuri tilts her head. "I don't understand… aren't you Ashley Taylor?"

"Yes, but I mean the original Ashley Taylor… um… I guess you can think of it as kinda like a split personality?"

"Huh, interesting," Yuuri says. "I've never met anyone with a split personality before…"

"When you say 'original', does that mean something happened that caused you to replace her?" Hijiri asks.

"That's right," I say. "We still don't know why it happened, though. It was just before we made a contract to become a magical girl, so it's not from our wish."

"When did it happen?" Hijiri asks.

"Last November."

"Oh, so we've never actually met the original Ashley Taylor, then?" Airi says.

"Not formally, no," I nod. "Would you like to? I've never tried intentionally letting her out, but I think it should be possible…"

I check on Detective Ishijima and find her on the road, so that means there's still a bit of time.

"Sure!" Yuuri says.

I close my eyes for a moment, trying to dive deep inside myself and pull Ashley out to the surface, or something. I have no idea how to do that though, so I resort to just thinking Ashley's name over and over again. Suddenly her face blooms in my head for a second, and I hear her giggle… no wait, I think she actually did giggle out loud.

"Yuuri-chan!" Ashley says, hugging her all of a sudden.

It's a little disconcerting, the feeling of not being in control of my body… but I fight down the urge to resist. After all, Ashley must've been feeling just like this the entire time, so letting her out a little is the least I can do…

"A-ashley-chan!?" Yuuri gasps. "What happened?"

"I've wanted to say this for awhile, but I love how you're so tall, it makes you look really cool!"

"Uhh… thanks…?" Yuuri blinks.

"Airi-chan!"

"Y-yes?" Airi says.

Ashley scoots over and hugs Airi, startling her.

"You're so tiny and cute, like a bunny!" Ashley says, ruffling Airi's hair a bit. "I just wanna plop down with you in my lap and pet you! And Inui-chan's right, you two'd make for a great couple."

"U-um… you really think I'm that cute?" Airi says.

"Totally, totally!" Ashley says. Then she spins to hug Hijiri. "Kanna-chi! Those twintails of yours are just the cutest! I love them so much!"

Hijiri takes the hug without a word, a vaguely bemused look on her face.

"And Inui-chan!" Ashley says. "Despite what that horrible guy might've thought, you're really, really cute. You deserve someone who appreciates that!"

Inui beats her to the punch, hugging us as Ashley turns to face her.

"Um… you're… pretty different," Hijiri observes.

"W-what's up, Ashley-nee?" Inui asks. "Just wanted some hugs?"

"That, and I just wanted to say all your names!" Ashley replies, hopping back and beaming at them, doing a V hand sign horizontally in front of our right eye. "Oh my god, it's been so long since I've spoken! This is so refreshing! And my body feels oddly light, too…"

She throws her arms in the air and does a twirl in-place, just revelling in the feeling of movement.

"Um… so… you're the one she called the original, right?" Hijiri asks. "But you already know us, it seems."

"Well yeah, we're sharing a body after all!" Ashley says. "I can see everything she sees. Even if I disagree with some of her methods at times, I can tell Chelsea really cares for you guys."

Yuuri blinks. "What do you mean by Chelsea?"

Ashley giggles. "She never told you that part, did she?" she says. "It used to be her name before she somehow wound up in my body. Crazy, right? Her name's even a bit similar to mine… it's a cute name though, I really like it. Funny story though, it was actually Mom's second choice when naming me. Now how crazy us that!? We came that close to having the same name!"

"That's quite a coincidence," Airi says.

"So, you don't know how this happened, huh?" Hijiri asks.

Ashley shakes her head. "We speculated that I might've died from my illness but then the body was revived when she entered it, and I just hadn't entirely left yet? But we have no proof."

Suddenly her bubbly cheeriness evaporates, and she bows low.

"By the way, I wanna apologize on her behalf for hiding all sorts of stuff from you. I think she means well, at least? I mean, she came all the way to a cooking contest she wasn't even interested in just to give Yuuri-chan a grief seed, so you can tell her heart's in the right place…"

Airi nods. "She told us in the end though, so apology accepted."

Yuuri blinks. "W-wait… you're saying that's the entire reason we met!? But… how did she even know? That was well before March sixteenth, when the time loop begins… was she spying on me back then, too?"

"Ah! I shouldn't have said that!" Ashley gasps. "Um… if it makes you feel any better, we can't spy on someone unless we're familiar with them, so there's no way it could've been that!"

"Are you saying you don't know how she knew?" Hijiri asks.

"Well, I do know, it's just… I can hardly believe it myself, so there's no way I could expect anyone else to believe it, and also… I'd rather not say it out loud… it's just… kinda embarrassing?"

I suppose she's embarrassed by the idea that her character may have been written by, to quote her own words, 'an old man'. I still have no idea if that's even true though.

"Well… I guess the result was positive, so I can let it slide," Yuuri says with a sigh.

"This is kinda surreal," Airi says. "The face may be the same, but you've got a totally different personality from the Ashley we know… from Chelsea."

"I know, right?" Ashley nods. "In some ways we're like, total opposites! It's totally caused us some problems, too. Nothing major, but still… like, there was a slight rift with my friends back home because of it… but it's been patched up for now, so all's good! And she kinda dropped some of my hobbies into a black hole… gotta work my way back into them bit by bit."

"It's not just the way you speak," Hijiri muses. "The way you hold yourself… your little mannerisms… I didn't quite believe it at first, but you really are a completely different person, aren't you? But… unlike the Souju twins, you don't have two rings…"

"Of course I'm a different person!" Ashley says. "But you're right, there's only the one ring…"

Ashley frowns a little, transforming her ring into gem form.

"This… this was the price for our wish," she murmurs. "And yet, there's only one… why is that… why did our souls merge together…?"

"So that's why you only have one ring," Hijiri nods. "Somehow or other, your souls merged together…"

Suddenly I regain control of our body and blink, then transform the gem back into ring form.

"Ah… I guess she got a bit depressed," I say. "Ashley regrets becoming a magical girl, it seems."

"O-oh… so we're talking to Chelsea again?" Airi says.

"I'd prefer you continue calling me Ashley, but yes," I nod.

"Well, it was cool meeting her though," Yuuri says. "Even if it was a little surreal."

I check on the detective again and find her just pulling in to the coffee shop parking lot, so we all head back out and approach it. We see her get out of the car and head inside.

"That's her," I say. "We'll make contact when she comes out… you don't have to be there, if you don't want."

"Don't be silly, Ashley-nee," Inui says. "Of course we'll support you!"

"Just to be clear, I'm planning to reveal what we are," I say. "So if you do come with us, she'll probably realize we're all magical girls."

Yuuri blinks. "You seriously expect her to believe you, though?"

"Well… it's not hard to give a demonstration, you realize," I say. "But she's also someone who's already inclined to believe in magic and miracles. That's one of the reasons I chose her in particular."

"Well, I mostly don't care if other people know I'm a magical girl," Inui says. "A police officer is a bit questionable, but… if you trust her, Ashley-nee, then I'll trust in your trust."

Yuuri and Airi nod too.

"Yeah, who cares if someone else knows?" Airi says. "In fact, it'll be kinda nice knowing that someone knows how much we suffer for their sakes…"

"I don't really care about that," Yuuri says. "I don't need people to acknowledge me. But I don't mind if someone knows, either."

Detective Ishijima emerges from the coffee shop a couple minutes later, and I step forward and address her by name.

"Miss Ishijima! Could we have a moment of your time?"

She stops and turns to look at me in surprise.

"Excuse me? Do I know you?"

"This is the first time you've met us," I say. "Miss Ishijima… do you believe in magic?"

She blinks at me, and it looks like she's about to make some sort of witty retort when I hold out my ring hand, palm up, and touch the ring with two fingers of my other hand. For a moment, my soul turns to gem form, just long enough for her to get a glimpse of its brilliance, and then I revert it to ring form. Her eyes widen, and she lets out a small gasp.

"W-what was that just now…?" she asks.

Then she narrows her eyes and frowns a little.

"Wait… you're not trying to sell me something, are you?"

"No, nothing like that," I say. "We're looking for some information that I think you may be able to provide. Information, and perhaps some assistance."

She raises her eyebrows. "Well… I can't deny you've got me intrigued. What are you looking for?"

"I'm searching for cases of teenage girls who died suddenly without a discernible cause," I say. "Mainly in Shinriku Prefecture."

The detective blinks at me. "Okay, but why me in particular? You should be able to get that information from the news sites, right?"

"There's no way they'd have the level of detail we need," I say. "You're a police officer, so you very likely have access to far more details than were shared with the media. In particular, we need the location of their graves."

She narrows her eyes. "I can't just share that kind of information with a civilian," she says. "It could cost me my job if anyone found out."

I nod. "I understand your concern, but I have a very good reason for it. I have reason to believe that at least some of those girls can be brought back to life."

Her eyes widen. "W-what!? Y-you can't be serious…?"

She glances at my companions.

"It's completely true," Hijiri says. "Say, Ashley-chan… why don't we do the demonstration for her?"

I blink at her. "Huh… really?" I glance around. "This isn't a good place for that, though…"

"What exactly are you thinking to demonstrate?" Detective Ishijima asks.

"Well, I figured that if one of us died and came back to life, you'd be more ready to believe that my claim is plausible," I say.

She gasps. "D-don't be absurd! You don't seriously think I'd let someone commit suicide right in front of me, do you?"

"Well, it's nothing quite so dramatic as that," I say.

"I think that alleyway we were in earlier is about a hundred metres away," Hijiri says. "I volunteer to be the guinea pig this time."

Hijiri passes me her soul gem and turns to run across the street.

"I don't understand…" Detective Ishijima says.

"It's okay, Miss Ishijima," Yuuri says. "Just come this way, and you'll see what we mean."

"Well… I suppose it can't hurt…" she says.

She joins Yuuri and Airi in pursuing Hijiri across the street, while I move in the opposite direction, just to make sure there's enough distance. Inui tags along behind me. After about a minute, I receive a telepathic missive from Yuuri.

«Hey Ashley-chan, she's super-panicked. You'd better get over here immediately.»

I turn and head across the street to rejoin them. I find Detective Ishijima attempting to perform rescue breathing. Well… I mean, it's certainly a reasonable response…

"That's not going to do her any good, Miss Ishijima," I say.

The detective turns to me. "H-how can you be so calm when your friend's on the brink of death!?" she asks.

"My friend is just fine," I say.

I kneel beside Hijiri and tuck her soul gem into her hand. A moment later, she opens her eyes and gasps for breath.

"W-whoa, that was… an experience," Hijiri says. "Anyway… Miss Ishijima, was it? After seeing this, can you believe we might be able to revive a couple of dead girls?"

"Even after witnessing it, I'm not sure what to believe," the detective says. "But supposing your claim really is true… why limit it to teenage girls?"

"Ah, we could extend it to young women in their twenties, too," I admit. "And elementary school girls as well."

"That doesn't really answer my question," she says.

"It's not like we have the ability to resurrect people," I say. "Only specific people can be revived… people who possess one of these."

I hold up my soul gem.

"And even then it's not anyone who has one, only specific people… to be frank, there's a bunch of these that have been separated from their owner and we wish to reunite them if possible."

"Could it be… the five of you are… m-magical girls?" Detective Ishijima asks hesitantly.

Yuuri blinks. "Huh? You already knew about magical girls?"

"Well, not exactly," she says. "But after my best friend disappeared in middle school, her three-year-old sister claimed she had been a magical girl…"

"Ahhh… that's interesting," Yuuri says. "She probably was one, too…"

"Is one," I correct her. "Shiina Remi came back to life a month or two ago."

Detective Ishijima blinks at me. "Y-you can't be serious…? How do you even know her name?"

"Just visit her house if you don't believe us," I shrug. "But more importantly, could you help us find girls who could potentially be brought back to life?"

Detective Ishijima nods slowly. "It connects to my area of expertise, so I'm willing to do a little digging, but… I'm still very leery of sharing the information with civilians, especially ones as young as you…"

"Well… to be honest, you don't actually need to share the information," I say. "If we just gave you their soul gems…" I hold up my own again so that she knows what I'm talking about. "…then you could track down their bodies and try reviving them yourself… although I still recommend taking at least Yuuri-chan with you before trying to revive anyone, because the bodies will certainly need healing."

"That's my magic power," Yuuri adds by way of explanation. "I can heal pretty much anything."

"Also, is it safe to just give her a bunch of soul gems?" Inui wonders. "What if they grew tainted?"

"I don't think they gather taint when separated from the body," I reply. "At least, I'm fairly sure you need to be conscious to accumulate taint, and it's pretty hard to be conscious without a body. I still would prefer not to just hand over the gems, but it is an option if she doesn't want to share the information."

"Alright," Detective Ishijima says. "I basically understand what you're after, but… I think you're being way too optimistic, you know?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well, we can probably find some of the bodies," Detective Ishijima says. "Some of them are bound to be Christian or Jewish, after all, and they typically prefer the body to be buried whole, in a coffin. But… isn't it far more likely that most of them have been cremated?"

I blink, then facepalm.

"I totally forgot how common that was!" I say. "Wow… that's quite a setback… geez…" I frown a little, then nod slowly. "But still… all is not lost. Even if they were cremated… as long as we can get a complete DNA sample… it should be possible to grow a new body."

Detective Ishijima blinks at us.

"W-well… of course that's technically true," she says. "But there are strict laws against cloning, you know? Plus, it's not like cloning technology has advanced much in the past century. There's still no way to safely accelerate the growth."

"You don't need to worry about that," Hijiri says. "We wouldn't be using modern cloning technology at all. It's a magical cloning technique… takes a few weeks to grow the body to full size, if I understand correctly."

"But what about the ethical concerns?" Detective Ishijima asks. "A clone has a consciousness of its own, right? Forcibly overwriting that with someone else…"

"It's not technically a clone," Hijiri says. "The body would be grown along with the soul and be moulded by it, and although it uses a human DNA sample as a template and to improve compatibility with the soul, it's not quite a human body… it's an alchemical construct that closely resembles a human. Actually, Ashley-chan was wrong about the DNA, too – we wouldn't even need a complete sample. As long as we have more than about twenty to thirty percent of the genetic code, it should be enough for the soul to reconstruct the DNA from its internal self-image. That said, a more complete sample is still better, since otherwise the reconstructed DNA could turn out slightly different, which would hurt the compatibility."

Inui blinks at her. "W-whoa, I didn't understand a word of that, but I did understand that you know a lot about this, Kanna-chi…"

"W-well, yeah, I was Pernelle's disciple for a couple weeks before… you know," Hijiri says. "And she just so happened to be growing a body for the Souju twins at the time, so I learned quite a bit about the process…"

"I don't really understand much of what you've said either," Detective Ishijima says. "But, let me get one thing straight… just hypothetically, if one of these… these… alchemical constructs?"

"The proper term is homunculus," Hijiri says.

"R-right… if you were to grow a homunculus without a soul… would it have a consciousness?"

"Um… from what I understand… it would have about the awareness level of your typical zombie in a horror movie," Hijiri says. "So yes, it has a consciousness of sorts, but not to a human or even near-human level. There are certain things you can do to grant it true intellect, but obviously we wouldn't take those steps, since the girl's soul will take care of it."

"Could I maybe talk to someone who knows a little more about this?" she asks. "Like this Pernelle person you mentioned?"

"Um… I don't think she's open to seeing people," Hijiri says. "But I guess it can't hurt to ask."

Detective Ishijima nods slowly. "Tell you what… you see if you can get me a meeting with this Pernelle, and I'll do some investigation and see if anything turns up. If I find a body that hasn't been cremated, then I'll think about taking one of you along to a grave, discreetly… so could I get your contact info? And in the case of a cremated body… that'll be tougher, but I'll see if there's any way to get a DNA sample. I don't think the ashes will help much, though."

Hijiri shakes her head. "Yeah, any genetic material in the body would be totally incinerated… you'd have better luck checking former possessions and hoping they still have traces."

"Is it okay if only I share my info?" Yuuri asks. "After all, as a healer, I'm the best person to take along."

The detective nods. "Sure, I guess that's fine."

"I don't mind sharing, but yeah, there's no much point really," I say.

So Yuuri gives out her contact info, and then Detective Ishijima says goodbye and hurries on her way.

"Alright, what's next?" Yuuri asks. "Is there anything else you had to get done, Ashley-chan? Because if not, I'd like to do something fun, like bowling or something."

"There was one more thing for today," I say. "The next stop shall be the Shiina household."

"H-hello, how can I help… huh?"

Remi opens the door and blinks at me, startled for some reason. Hijiri and the others are hanging back, so they're probably not the reason, so that must mean… did she recognize me?

"N-no way… it wasn't just a dream!?" she gasps.

"Oh? Did you see us in a dream?" I ask.

"U-um, well, th-that's…"

"Well, never mind, that's not the important thing right now," I say.

I step aside so she can see Hijiri, and her eyes narrow.

"That's… isn't that Hyades?" she asks me in a low voice. "I've seen her around my sister once or twice but I think she's kinda fishy…"

"You're completely correct," I say. "But that's not why she's here today. We'd like to have a little chat with you and your sister… oh, and your prisoner as well."

Remi blinks at me. "H-how did you… no, never mind. Um… it may be a little cramped with all of us in the living room, so why don't we meet at the park down the street in about ten… no, five minutes? I'll drag Moe-chan along if I have to, and I'll bring that girl along as well."

She points in the direction of the park, and I nod.

"Okay, that sounds good to me."

"What was that about a prisoner?" Yuuri asks. "All of a sudden this is sounding a little creepy…"

"Don't worry about it," I say. "It'll probably be explained once everyone's together, so let's go."

We head for the indicated park and find some nice convenient benches to settle down on. A little while later, the Shiina sisters show up with Kazumi, and Yuuri gasps. Moe for her part looks to be sulking.

"Oh! It's Kazusa Michiru!? I haven't seen you in ages… how are you?"

Kazumi blinks at her. "H-huh? M-me?"

Yuuri looks confused at her reaction. "Um… you are Kazusa Michiru… right? Or Kazumi-chan, as everyone calls you…"

Kazumi sort of shrugs. "Well, I am Kazumi, but I don't recognize the other name… it seems I lost all my memories…"

"That's terrible…"

"It's not what it sounds like," I say. "However, we have a bunch of things to cover in this meeting, so I'd like to focus on one thing at a time… we'll get to Kazumi-chan's identity soon, I promise. But before that… how about we start with the introductions? My name is Ashley Taylor."

Kazumi nods. "As I said before, I'm Kazumi… just Kazumi."

"I'm Shiina Remi, and this is my little sister, Moe," Remi says.

"I'm Ashley-nee's friend, Itsumi Inui," Inui pipes up. "Kazumi-chan, Remi-chan, Moe-tan, it's nice to meet you!"

"I'm Asuka Yuuri, and this is my best friend, Anri Airi," Yuuri says.

"And Hyades is not my real name," Hijiri says. "I'm Hijiri Kanna."

"I'll let Kanna-chi say her piece first," I say.

Hijiri nods. "Thank you, Ashley-chan. Um… I'm sorry, Moe-chan. I lied to you… your friend is probably still alive. No… I'm sure she's still alive."

Moe gasps, startled from her sulk. "W-wait… y-you're telling me that now!? B-but I saw them… the Pleiades Saints…"

Hijiri nods. "Yeah… they've taken her and… sort of locked her up," she says. "But they didn't kill her."

Moe frowns. "If that's the case, there's still reason for revenge, right?"

"Well, I suppose that's up to you," I say. "But please try to understand a little bit… we'll get to the details in a moment, but the Pleiades Saints didn't do what they did out of malice. They did it because they genuinely felt that it was the right thing to do."

"H-how could that possibly be the right thing to do!?" Moe protests.

"Regardless of that, your friend is still alive," I say. "You can still save her, so… please, at least suspend your judgement until this meeting is concluded. That's all we ask."

"O-okay… I guess…"

"It just so happens that the Pleiades Saints have themselves suffered a terrible loss," I explain. "Their former leader, Kazusa Michiru, turned into a witch quite some time ago. I don't know exactly when it happened, but I suspect it's close to a year ago."

Moe and Kazumi look positively taken aback at this revelation, and even Remi seems a little startled. Yuuri blinks at me, then looks at Kazumi.

"Th-then… who the heck is…"

"Given what we were discussing earlier today, surely you can put two and two together, Yuuri-chan?" I say.

Yuuri's eyes go wide.

"N-no way… are you saying Kazumi-chan is a homunculus!?"

Kazumi blinks. "Huh? W-what are you… talking about…? What's a ho-man… whatever that was?"

"A homunculus… something like an artificial human," I explain. "You're stronger than an ordinary human, right Kazumi-chan? And your wounds heal pretty fast, right?"

"Yeah, but isn't that because I'm a magical girl?"

I nod. "Yes, if you were a magical girl, that would explain it," I say. "However… you're actually not a magical girl."

"I am a magical girl!" Kazumi protests, pulling out her soul gem as proof. "See! I have a soul gem!"

I shake my head. "That soul gem is fake," I say. "It's not even a soul gem at all… it's Kazusa Michiru's grief seed."

Yuuri gasps. "Y-you mean… they used the grief seed as a core, instead of a soul gem!?"

"It doesn't look at all like a grief seed though," Kazumi protests.

"Sure… but if you compare it to other soul gems, you can spot some clear differences," I say. "If we all pull out our soul gems right now…"

"Um… I'd like to see that… if it's alright with everyone," Kazumi says.

"Sure," Remi says.

"Of course!" Inui says.

Ultimately, everyone except Moe, who's still sulking a little, converts their soul into gem form and holds it out on their palm to compare it with Kazumi's soul gem. Just as I said, there are some clear differences that distinguish hers from the rest. For example, Kazumi's soul gem is the only one to have something like a stem on the bottom – all the others are flat-bottomed. Kazumi's soul gem also seems more rounded at the top, less pointy.

"When I look closely at it," Remi muses. "I can see some slight resemblance to a grief seed…"

We all revert our soul gems to ring form or, in Kazumi's case, earring form.

"N-no way…" Kazumi says. "It can't be true… it can't! You can't use magic from a grief seed, right?"

"Well, a magical girl can't, as far as I know," I say. "And I don't know any way for an ordinary human to use a grief seed's magic, either. But there's no denying grief seeds have magical capabilities. After all… they're the heart of a witch, an even more magical being than magical girls. And you're a homunculus specifically designed to be able to channel the grief seed's power… so, in a looser sense, I suppose it's fair to call you a magical girl. After all, you are a girl who can use magic."

"I… I can't believe it," Kazumi says. "Umika-chan, Kaoru-chan, and the others… they said they were my friends… but was that a lie? I can't believe they'd lie to me…"

"I don't think we can speak for the Pleiades Saints to that degree," I say. "You should ask them about that yourself. That said… did you enjoy the short time you spent with them?"

"W-well… yeah," Kazumi says. "I had a lot of fun."

"Then I think you should trust in that feeling," I say.

"Y-yeah… you're right," Kazumi says. "I'll ask them about it later and hear the full truth from their own mouths." She blinks, suddenly remembering something else. "O-oh yeah! You said Kazusa Michiru turned into a witch? Why would a magical girl turn into a witch? That doesn't make any sense… magical girls are supposed to fight witches!"

"Actually," Remi says. "I'm not quite sure, but I think I turned into a witch too."

"Wait, if that's the case, how are you sitting with us here right now?" Yuuri asks. "Did someone find a way to reverse the process?"

Moe raises her hand. "Um, well… I wished for onee-chan to come back, so…"

"Oh… dangit, that doesn't help us then," Yuuri sighs.

"Anyway, my point is… although it's the first time I've heard this, based on my own experiences, I believe what she said is the truth," Remi says.

I nod. "Yes, any magical girl can become a witch if their soul gem becomes tainted enough."

Moe gasps. "W-wait… then th-that means…? Mine is…"

She transforms her soul to gem form, revealing that it's around eighty percent tainted.

"W-whoa, how'd you let it get that bad!?" Remi gasps. "Haven't you been using grief seeds to purify it?"

Moe shakes her head. "I haven't used even one since I made my contract last month…"

"Are you serious!?" Yuuri gasps. "That's pretty impressive in its own right… unless you haven't been fighting witches at all…"

Remi pulls out a grief seed and hands it over.

"It's not that… we've been fighting together a couple times a week," Remi says. "Here, Moe-chan… use this one."

"R-right…" Moe nods.

She takes the grief seed and purifies her soul gem, then hands it back since it looks like it still has at least one use left.

"I was kinda using her to gather grief seeds for me," Hijiri adds. "So that's part of the reason too… I'm really sorry about that…"

"So anyway… it's really true?" Kazumi says. "Magical girls turn into witches?"

"Sadly, it's really true," I say. "That's actually why they kidnapped Moe-chan's friend, to prevent her from turning into a witch."

"That doesn't make any sense though," Moe says. "They should've just given her a grief seed."

"Yeah, but things have gotten rather… complicated over there," I say.

"Actually, I didn't even know you could use a grief seed to purify a soul gem," Kazumi says. "This is news to me…"

"Right… the Pleiades Saints didn't tell you, because they've also lost some of their memories," I say. "They have a different way of cleansing their soul gems… it's actually less effective though, so it'll be their downfall if they don't remember soon. That's why I wrote them a letter to warn them. Kazumi-chan… could I ask you to deliver it for me?"

Kazumi blinks. "A letter?"

I fish it out from my bag and hand it over, and she blinks again.

"Ehh!? A pen and paper letter in this day and age?"

I nod. "An email would probably work too, but I don't know their emails, and plus there's spam filters so I wouldn't even know if they actually saw it. And I can't say it in person, for magic-related reasons. This is only method I thought of that would work… or at least, I hope it will. If I'm wrong, there's still a last-resort option, but I want to try this first."

Kazumi nods and takes the lettet. "Okay, I'll give it to them."

"Anyway… there's one other thing I think you should know about your soul gems," I say. "If your soul gem breaks, you're dead… and if it's more than one hundred metres from your body, you can't control your body anymore. Basically, the soul gem is actually your soul… it's the true form of the magical girl."

This doesn't seem to disconcert the Shiina sisters as much as other people I've told. Maybe they just don't believe me, though? Kazumi, on the other hand, looks startled again.

"So the body is… just an empty shell?" she asks.

"For a magical girl, yes," I say. "But you're not a magical girl, Kazumi-chan. Your soul is still inside your body."

"If what you say is true… then it should be possible to demonstrate it, right?" Kazumi says. "If someone takes my soul gem and one of your soul gems and moves a hundred metres away…"

I nod. "That's a good idea."

"I'm fast, so how about I do the moving?" Remi says. "Moe-chan… would you mind being the guinea pig?"

Moe blinks at her. "W-why me?"

"Only because I can't expect someone I just met to trust me with their soul gem," Remi says.

"Well… okay then," Moe grumbles.

Moe and Kazumi hand over their soul gems, and Remi transforms, then disappears in a blur. A few seconds later, Moe topples over, and Kazumi catches her and gasps.

"Sh-she's not breathing!"

"That's normal," I say. «Remi-chan, you can come back now!»

A few more seconds, and Remi blurs back to where she was sitting, blinking in surprise at the fallen Moe.

"S-so it's true…"

She powers down and presses the soul gem into Moe's hand, who wakes up, blinking at her older sister.

"Are you alright, Moe-chan?" she asks.

"Y-yeah… I'm fine, onee-chan…"

Remi takes a seat once more, nodding slowly.

"The fact that one of your claims is true lends a certain air of credence to the rest of them," she admits. "Although some of this is still pretty outlandish…"

"So um… about Kanna-chi," Yuuri says. "If Kazumi-chan is a homunculus… is Kanna-chi one too?"

Hijiri shakes her head. "No… I'm not," she says. "But I think I should leave that explanation to Nico… it's really her story, not mine. Sorry."

"I see… don't worry about it," Yuuri says.

"I'm still not quite sold on the idea that I'm not a magical girl," Kazumi says. "I mean, I can transform and use magic just like the others…"

"But you've never met Kyuubey, right?" I point out.

"You were talking about this Kyuubey earlier, but no… I never met him," Kazumi says. "But couldn't Juubey have made me into a magical girl?"

I shake my head. "No, Juubey can't make contracts," I say. "That was part of the intent behind his creation, so I'm pretty sure of it."

"There could be other beings out there that grant contracts," Kazumi suggests.

"Yeah, there could be, and in fact I'm quite certain there are," I say. "But have you met any of these theoretical beings?"

"R-right… I haven't met any weird creatures besides Juubey," Kazumi admits.

"Wait… have you met any of them, Ashley-chan?" Airi asks.

I shake my head.

"Then how are you so certain that they exist?" she asks.

"Ah… there's a certain witch in Mitakiahara," I explain. "It has a strange magical signature. Even Kyuubey said it was strange… it pretty much confirmed that it had never made a contract with a magical girl who had evolved into that witch. So… there has to be something else out there that can make witches, one way or another… and making witches implies making magical girls first."

"Huh, that's amazing," Inui says. "Have I met this witch?"

"Um, it's the one we warned you about awhile back," I say. "Or did we forget to mention that…? We definitely warned the quartet…"

"I think you forgot to mention it," Inui says. "Don't worry, I'll just ask the quartet about it later."

"But… wait a second," Kazumi says. "You said that Juubey can't grant contracts, but the Pleiades Saints all said Juubey made them into magical girls! Are you saying they're lying about that too!?"

I nod. "No, they're not exactly lying, but it's not the truth," I say.

"That… that doesn't make any sense," Kazumi says. "It's not a lie but it's not truth? It has to be one or the other!"

"Because they can't see Kyuubey, all their memories of Kyuubey replace it with Juubey," I say. "So they're remembering Kyuubey granting them a wish, but substituting its face with Juubey's. That's why it's neither quite a lie nor precisely the truth."

Kazumi considers that for a moment, then nods.

"O-okay, yeah, I get it," she says.

"That just raises a whole host of new questions, though," Remi says. "Who the heck is this Juubey? And how do they dispose of spent grief seeds if they can't see Kyuubey?"

"Juubey is a frankensteined Kyuubey that the Pleiades Saints modified," I reply. "It can dispose of their grief seeds for them, and it can also sort of purify their soul gems, but it doesn't work properly… if he has a grief seed in his stomach, it'll absorb the grief and properly purify you, but if not… I'm not really sure what happens, to be honest. Maybe he can extract a small amount of grief, or maybe he pushes the grief beneath the surface… if I understand correctly, it does at least protect you from the mental side-effects of heavy taint, which I like to refer to as a grief spiral… but it's misleading. Your soul gem may look shiny even though it's still pretty close to its limit."

"Wait, but the Pleiades Saints have been using Juubey for a long time, haven't they?" Kazumi says. "If it doesn't work… then how are they still okay?"

"Presumably because they feed him all their grief seeds instead of using them directly," I say. "As long as there's a grief seed, the purification works normally."

"The whole idea of purifying your soul gem without a grief seed is pretty incredible though," Inui says. "Even if this one's a failure…"

"Yeah, I'll have to agree with that one," Remi says.

"So yeah… I think that was everything I wanted to say…" I say.

"No wait, about that dream," Remi speaks up.

"Oh right, you did mention a dream," I say. "Let's hear it."

"It was a few days ago, I think? It was really weird. At first it was like I was meeting myself… I was sitting in a classroom, in uniform, and the other me walked in, dressed like a teacher, and started lecturing on something about my magic. Then at the end she mentioned your name, and I looked out the window and there you were, in a sort of red lolita dress."

"Interesting," I say. "Sounds like my magical girl outfit. As for the stuff she talked about… have you tried it out at all?"

"It seemed to make sense, but I haven't had the chance to try it out yet," Remi says. "The thing is… this is gonna sound crazy, but it was almost like a message from… from me in the future…"

"That's amazing if true," I say. "To be honest, we never expected you to be able to pull it off… but it sounds like it was a success."

Remi blinks. "Huh? You actually believe… waaaaait… are you from the future, too?"

"In a manner of speaking," I say. "Time has been turned back multiple times, but there isn't another us in this timeline. I think it's just the soul that travels back, and inhabits our body in the past."

"Huh… that's incredible," Remi says. "Actually, if I can send a message back in time… I wonder if I could actually travel back myself… if my power can slow time, it stands to reason that I could stop it or even make it flow in reverse."

"Time stop is a very powerful tool, so it would be totally worth trying," I say. "If you did pull it off, I wonder how that would interact with the other girl's time stop…"

"Well, I was thinking I should do some experiments and then send the results back into the past again," Remi says. "If I can take advantage of this time loop to grow stronger, then why not?"

"You could send back other information too, right?" I point out.

Remi shrugs. "Probably. I'm not sure."

"So um… about Fumiko-chan…" Moe speaks up. "You said she's still alive, but… where is she?"

"She's being kept in what the Pleiades Saints call the Freezer," I explain. "There are around fifty or so girls being held there. As far as I know, they've been at this ever since Michiru died."

Remi gasps. "Th-then we gotta rescue them!"

"I would suggest coordinating with Kazumi-chan for that," I say. "The Pleiades Saints will likely show her how to get into the Freezer."

Kazumi nods. "This is about rescuing people, so of course I'll help!"

"But you'll also need lots of grief seeds…" I add.

"Then we should start hunting witches right away," Remi says, standing up.

"Hold on," I say. "Do you understand how long it would take to gather enough grief seeds? What's the most grief seeds you've ever had at one time?"

"Um… three… maybe four if I got lucky?" Remi says.

"You need about three times as many if you're going to free everyone in the Freezer," I say. "And it just so happens that someone in town has a truly mind-boggling stash of them."

Remi blinks. "H-how mind-boggling…?"

"I couldn't even begin to guess," I reply. "Last time, she gave two to the Pleiades Saints and ten to me… and I think she still had plenty left over to share with Yuuri-chan and Airi-chan."

"That's insane!" Remi gasps. "W-why does she have so many?"

"I have no idea," I say. "You'd have to ask her. But she seems willing to share, at least. She also might want something in return, although she didn't make any such request last time… but she's the type of person who would."

"Do you know where she lives?" Remi asks. "We should go ask her right away!"

"I do know where she lives, but I think tomorrow afternoon would be better," I say. "There's a very powerful witch that she plans to fight tomorrow morning."

"Okay… then should we meet up again tomorrow afternoon?" Remi asks.

"Sure, is Café Lepa Macha fine?"

Remi nods. "We'll see you then… Kazumi-chan, would you like to join us for dinner? Think of it as an apology for my little sister attacking and kidnapping you like that."

Kazumi blinks. "Oh… sure! I'd love that!"

"Don't forget to head to Asunaro Dome at midnight, Kazumi-chan," I say.

"Oh right, I almost forgot about that," Moe mutters.

"Huh? What did you forget?" Remi asks.

The three of them get up and leave, Kazumi waving goodbye as she trails behind the sisters. Then Yuuri pipes up.

"So… what are your plans for tomorrow, Ashley-chan?" she asks.

"We'll split up tomorrow morning," I say. "The two of you will go with Pernelle, and the rest of us will confront the Souju twins."

"We're going to help Pernelle fight that witch?" Yuuri asks. "We'll need to know where to find her though, right?"

I shake my head. "She'll find you, don't worry."

"Huh… okay then."

"I'll need to meet the Souju twins tonight," Hijiri says. "If I don't, they'll probably go straight on to Mitakihara instead of stopping to confront the Pleiades Saints."

"That's fine," I nod. "And can I also trust you to make sure Miss Usagi doesn't turn into a witch tomorrow night?"

"I probably don't need to do anything," Hijiri says. "Last time, I was the one who pushed her over the edge… but I'll keep an eye on her, just in case."

With all the important stuff taken care of, we wake Inui – who had at some point fallen asleep on my shoulder – and head to bowling and dinner, much like the last time. Then Hijiri goes her own way after agreeing to meet at the La Vie Land entrance tomorrow morning, and the rest of us return to Yuuri's apartment for the night.